Sept. 11 Panel: Bush, Clinton Not to Blame - No Evidence to Blame Clinton or Bush Administrations

ABCNEWS.COM ^

[Sub-Driver]

Sept. 11 Panel: Bush, Clinton Not to Blame Sept. 11 Commission Chairman Says There's No Evidence to Blame Clinton or Bush Administrations

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Dec. 18 — The chairman of a federal commission looking into the Sept. 11 attacks said Thursday that mistakes over many years left the United States vulnerable to such an attack, but he resisted pinning blame on either of the last two presidential teams. "We have no evidence that anybody high in the Clinton administration or the Bush administration did anything wrong," chairman Thomas Kean said in an interview with ABC's "Nightline" taped for airing Thursday night.

Kean said the 10-member National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States has not decided whether to ask former President Clinton or President Bush to testify. He also said that any conclusions about the performance of high-level officials "will be reached when we are finished with our job, not now."

Kean sought to clarify remarks attributed to him in a CBS News report that aired Wednesday.

In the CBS interview, Kean said the commission's report, due May 27, will detail "what wasn't done and what should have be done" to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

He added, "There are people that, if I was doing the job, would certainly not be in the position they were in at that time because they failed."

CBS reported that Kean's comments constituted "pointing fingers inside the (Bush) administration and laying blame."

On Thursday, Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark labeled Kean's statements "disturbing" and said they showed the Bush administration could have done more to protect America from a terrorist attack.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said Kean's comments meant "that Bush administration officials had valuable information that could have prevented the terrorist attacks."

But Kean said in Thursday's interview that he did not mean to suggest that certain federal officials should have been fired after Sept. 11. He said he was commenting on obvious mistakes that were made, such as letting terrorists into the country and letting dangerous items onto planes.

"There are a number of steps along the way, that if they had occurred differently, this event wouldn't have occurred," he said.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said he reviewed the CBS report and did not believe Kean leveled accusations against the Bush administration.

"There is nothing that we have seen that leads us to believe that Sept. 11 could have been prevented," McClellan said.

Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, was appointed by Bush to lead the bipartisan commission.

[Wait4Truth]

Kean offered slick willie a venue for a NJ rally while he was campaigning against the first President Bush. Slick willie promised Kean he would be the secretary of education. Of course, slick willie lied, but he did give Kean some other no show job in his administration.

Boy, I sure would like to know who the hell suggested to President Bush that he pick this guy for the chairman of this committee! Whoever it was should no longer be working there.

[meyer]

He said he was commenting on obvious mistakes that were made, such as letting terrorists into the country and letting dangerous items onto planes.

Unfortunately, the most useful "dangerous item" that could have been on any of those planes but wasn't allowed was a handgun in the hands of a citizen.

[Wait4Truth]

Richard Miniter told someone today that he has not been asked to speak to the 9-11 committee. Gee, I bet you are really surprised by that, huh?

[OldFriend]

I only saw the few moments of her rant.......thanks for filling me in........so Matthews asked the question that led to the part that I saw.

The woman has made a career out of a tradegy. Pity!

[cyncooper]

Conservatives don't riot, darn it!!

Oh, yes, we do!

Mob Scene in Miami

:-)

(Ignore the CNN spin that it was the "Republican machine". It was grassroots, heartfelt outrage that spurred that protest.)

[Dog Gone]

If you are that sure they won't try it, ok. If they do, you owe me some Tex-Mex chili. :-)

I'll buy you the best bowl you've ever tasted if you just come down here to visit.

It's entirely possible that some fringe lunatic in the Dem Party will introduce articles of impeachment. I don't think the DNC, or the congressional Rat leadership will endorse it. I can't see how they'd calculate it to be in their best interests.

The Republicans did it, even though they knew it WASN'T in their best interests. They did it on principle. The Democrats want to do it out of revenge.

That's a great motive, but it's not much of an argument.

[Wait4Truth]

President Bush was working on the bin Laden problem, even though the RATS say he was doing nothing. It was widely reported at the time of 9-11 that a report on how to destroy bin Laden and his network was set to be presented to Bush when he returned from FL on 9-12. As does most of the truth, the media has now forgotten that little fact that they wrote about and talked about at the time.

[GeronL]

Thats not a riot. I want buildings on fire, I want snipers all over liberal mecca's, I want mobs taking over TV stations! I want a real revolt! =o)

[Liberty Valance]

This is meaningless partisan tripe. The blame for Sept. 11th lies with Osama Bin Laden, Al Quaida and their islamic enablers. We are in the process of shutting them down...it will not be easy. We've gone through Afghanistan and Iraq so far and possibly others to come. We are lucky to have a focused Pres. Bush leading the coalition of Freedom loving people in this life and death struggle. We didn't start this war but i firmly believe we will finish it. I truely believe the Light will overcome the darkness.

W'04
Best regards,
Liberty

[kabar]

Let's see. Could anything have been done to prevent WTC1, Khobar towers, the bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, USMTM in Riyadh, and the USS Cole?

[samantha]

You all should quit watching that spitting, socialist, drunken sissy Chrissy. Even 10 freepers watching drives up his ratings to dead last. Chrissy's wife pushes him around and puts liberal pressure on him otherwise he gets cut off under the sheets. He probably secretly lusts for Peggy.

[Wait4Truth]

Unfortunately, the rabid leftists and the rabid media are all too willing to believe anything evil or bad about this President. Many Americans get their news from the alphabet networks and they certainly are not going to defend Bush. It will be up to us Republicans to riot if they try this crap.

[JoeSchem]

Sept. 11 Panel: Bush, Clinton Not to Blame Sept. 11 Commission Chairman Says There's No Evidence to Blame Clinton or Bush Administrations

"No recriminations!" shouted the Guilty Party.

[Wait4Truth]

The Democrats want to do it out of revenge.

You've got that right. The RATS want revenge for clinton. That's what ALL of this is about..revenge and a desire for power no matter what.

[Wait4Truth]

Well, I don't want to set fire to anything but I sure would be willing to riot in the streets. They always think Republicans would not do this. I'm ready to surprise them bigtime if they pull this.

[VOA]

Sept. 11 Panel: Bush, Clinton Not to Blame - No Evidence to Blame Clinton or Bush Administrations

I guess the panel was so busy talking and typing, they didn't have time to read a book.
If they'd heard the author, Richard Miniter interviewed on the radio show
"Concerned Women for America" and recount that in the strategy meeting of Clinton, Reno
Albright, Tennant, Richard Clark and other administration officials
after the USS Cole bombing...to his shock, Clark found that he was the only person
at the table in favor of immediate action to strike back at bin Laden.

Losing Bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror
by Richard Miniter

From the amazon.com URL for the book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0895260743/qid=1071800737/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-3105039-9963239

Years before the public knew about bin Laden, Bill Clinton did. Bin Laden first
attacked Americans during Clinton's presidential transition in December 1992.
He struck again at the World Trade Center in February 1993. Over the next eight years
the archterrorist's attacks would escalate killing hundreds and wounding thousands -
while Clinton did his best to stymie the FBI and CIA and refused to wage a real war on terror.
Why?

The answer is here in investigative reporter Richard Miniter's stunning exposé,
Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror,
that includes exclusive interviews with both of Clinton's National Security
Advisors, Clinton's Counter-Terrorism Czar, his first Director of Central Intelligence,
his Secretary of State, top CIA and FBI agents, lawmakers from both parties and
foreign intelligence officials from France, Sudan, Egypt, and the United Arab
Emirates, as well as on-the-scene coverage from Sudan, Egypt, and elsewhere.

Bill Clinton had countless opportunities to nab Osama bin Laden during
his presidency, but time and time again, bin Laden slipped out of the Clinton
administration's grasp,

In Losing bin Laden you'll learn:
* How the Northern Alliance was criticized by the Clinton Administration for
trying to kill bin Laden-and why they kept trying anyway.
* The never-before-told story of the Saudi government attempt to assassinate bin Laden.
* Why Bill Clinton refused to meet with his first Director of Central Intelligence.
* Drawn from secret Sudanese intelligence files, the never-before-told story of
bin Laden's role in shooting down America's Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu,
Somalia-and how Clinton manipulated the news media to keep the worst off America's TV screens.
* How the Clinton administration turned down repeated offers from Sudan to hand
over bin Laden to the U.S. because they didn't want him in a U.S. court.
* How the Clinton administration never took a look at offered Sudanese intelligence
files, a database of names, movements and locations of bin Laden and hundreds of
al Qaeda operatives.
* The 1993 World Trade Center attack-why Clinton never visited the site; why the CIA
was kept out of the investigation; how one of the FBI's most trusted informants
was actually a double agent working for bin Laden.
* Why the CIA never funded bin Laden-despite the liberal myths.
* The untold story of a respected congressman who repeatedly warned Clinton officials
about bin Laden in 1993-and why he was ignored.
* Revealed for the first time; how Clinton and a Democratic senator stopped
the CIA from hiring Arabic translators-while phone intercepts from bin Laden
remained untranslated.
* How the Predator spy plane-which spotted bin Laden three times-was grounded
by bureaucratic infighting.
* Why the Clinton administration refused to retaliate for the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

[GeronL]

I would not want a one-city riot in prime time for an hour. That would just give the liberals ammo, I want a riot/revolt aimed at defeating them

[DustyMoment]

Well, it's official - Kean is an idiot.

I'm waiting for him to blame 9-11 on Ken Lay.

[deport]

9/11 panel might hold government officials accountable

Commission's chairman indicates report will contain major revelations about failure to prevent attacks

Thursday, December 18, 2003
By TERENCE J. KIVLAN

WASHINGTON -- The special commission investigating the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, is prepared to hold accountable government officials who failed to prevent the attacks, its chairman said last night.

"I mean, I believe this [Sept. 11] is not something that had to happen," said Thomas Kean, in an interview on CBS television.

Kean, a Republican and the former governor of New Jersey, said he believed officials should have been fired after Sept. 11. "They failed, they simply failed," he said.

But he acknowledged that, at this point, the commission lacks sufficient information to identify government decision makers who are potentially culpable.

Kean's words seemed to lend support to Sept. 11 victims' survivors -- who have long contended that U.S. officials ignored important clues to the attacks and missed opportunities to foil them.

"I think they could have been prevented, because there were a lot of red flags," said William Doyle of Annadale, whose son, Joseph, was killed at the World Trade Center.

Doyle cited as one example of such warnings the May 2001 "Phoenix memo," in which a FBI agent in Arizona urged an immediate investigation of Middle Eastern men with links to terrorist groups who were taking flying lessons at U.S. aviation schools.

"It was sent to FBI headquarters in New York and just sat there on somebody's desk," said Doyle.

Kean indicated that the panel's report, which must be completed by May 27, would contain some major revelations. "As you read the report, you're going to have a clear idea what wasn't done and what should have been done," he said.

In a report last year, the congressional intelligence committee investigating the terror attacks faulted the FBI and CIA for failing to follow up on clues and to share information pointing to the al-Qaida conspiracy. The panels concluded, however, that none of the information was specific enough to have prevented the attacks.

But the independent commission has access to more material, including top-secret White House intelligence briefings, classified Pentagon documents and transcripts of interrogations of captured al-Qaida leaders.

The panel has scheduled a series of public hearings to begin in late January, and Kean has said they will feature some tough questioning of top U.S. intelligence and defense officials.

After Sept. 11, President George Bush came under pressure to fire CIA Director George Tenet, a Clinton appointee, but the president refused.

Current FBI director Robert Mueller assumed his job a week before the attacks. In a meeting with survivors' relatives earlier this year, Mueller said he didn't take disciplinary action within his agency after Sept. 11 because he felt it would be unfair to fire low-level analysts who made mistakes.

Terence J. Kivlan is the Washington correspondent for the Advance. He may be reached at terence.kivlan@newhouse.com.

[Mo1]

As I said yesterday after reading the CBS version of this report .. It's a joke